Discretionary Assistance Fund: requesting a review

NECSWS is the organisation that deliver the Discretionary Assistance Fund (DAF) on behalf of the Welsh Government. NECSWS are the internal reviewers for the DAF. 

If you believe an incorrect decision on your application has been made, you have the right to have your application reviewed. You can request a review within 20 days of receiving your decision. Please note that all applications must meet the basic eligibility criteria:

• Applications have not been awarded 3 payments in a rolling 12-month period (not calendar or tax year).
• Applicants have not been awarded with a 7-days of last paid application (measured in calendar days).
• Applicants must be 16 or over and reside in Wales at the time of application and award.
• Applicants Identity has been verified in line with DWP records.

If all the basic eligibility criteria above are met and one of the below applies, you can submit your review request: 

• no award given: the application was unsuccessful due to the criteria not being met
• no award given: the application was unsuccessful but further information, or a change of circumstance means you feel the decision could be changed and/or you think that the incorrect type of award has been granted e.g. white goods or a gift card, when cash was expected.

When submitting your review request, you can provide additional information to your application that you may have forgotten to include in the initial application.

You can be assisted when requesting an Internal Review of your decision by:

• a member of the Discretionary Assistance Fund Partner Network
• you may nominate another 3rd party to act on your behalf, e.g. your support worker

You should submit your review request via one of the following:

• email to daf.review@necsws.com
• in writing to: Discretionary Assistance Fund, PO Box 2377, Wrexham, LL11 0LG
• telephoning the DAF number on 0800 859 5924 

Emergency Assistance Payments (EAP)

You will be informed of the review outcome decision within 24 hours (Monday to Friday) by your preferred method of communication, e.g. in writing, by email or postal address, or telephone.

Individual Assistance Payments (IAP)

You will be informed of the review outcome decision within 15 working days of the review request. This will be in writing, via an email or postal address, dependent on your preferred method of communication.

There are 3 stages to the review process which have to be followed in this order. 

1. Internal Review (Tier 1)
2. External Review (Tier 2)
3. Complaint to Welsh Government

Stage 1: internal review

On receipt of your request for a review, a review will be raised by NECSWS; at this review a NECSWS member of staff will review the application, including any additional information you provided in your review request. 

We aim to complete your Tier 1 review within 24 hours for EAP applications and 15 working days for IAP applications. 

The Tier 1 Review process must be completed before you can request a Tier 2 Review. Applicants for EAP or IAP who are dissatisfied with the outcome of their Tier 1, must notify NECSWS that they want a Tier 2 Review within 20 working days of receiving their Stage 1 review decision.

Stage 2: external review (Tier 2)

An independent external review by Family Fund Business Services: at this review a Family Fund Business Services member of staff will review your case and may contact you for additional information which may support your application. We ask that any additional information requested is returned promptly.

Timescales will be subject to your cooperation in providing any requested additional evidence or information as soon as possible, to inform the outcome of the review. A decision will be expected within the timescales once the reviewing officer has all the requested evidence or information.

When requesting reviews, will be required to provide a valid contact telephone number. Failure to supply a valid contact telephone number will result in notification of the review decision by email or post (dependent on their indicated channel preference). In these circumstances the 24-hour timescale will apply to sending notification of the review decision outcome.

Stage 3: complaint to the Welsh Government

If your decision has not been overturned on either a Tier 1 or Tier 2 review, and you disagree with the decision, you have the right to make a complaint to the Welsh Government.

You can contact the Welsh Government via:

• telephone: 0300 060 4400 (Monday to Friday, 8.30am to 5pm)
• E-mail: customerhelp@gov.wales
• By writing to: Discretionary Assistance Fund, Welsh Government, Cathays Park, CF10 3NQ

Please note that to ensure your complaint is fully investigated, Welsh Government will request your application history from NECSWS, the DAF administrators.

The person looking at your review will usually need to see all relevant records that NECSWS hold relevant about you, which could include recordings of telephone conversations relating to a DAF application, notes of conversations, letters, e-mails or whatever may be relevant to your particular concern. If you don’t want this to happen, it’s important that you make this clear when submitting the review. Refusal to let the reviewer look at all relevant information and evidence may however affect the ability to investigate and resolve your review.

Please note: This information is available in Welsh, large print and can be made available in other formats (Braille and disk, and other languages).